Thunder and Lightning
by Phoxx Rain
Summary: I'm not very good at summarizing, so Read to find out. Please R
1. Chapter 1

The servants scattered as Prince Lightning Strike and I walked through the hallways of the Crystal Palace. As the prince's advisor, it was my job to tell him what things were going wrong and how he should fix them. However, he hardly listened to me. In fact he wasn't even listening to me at the moment, he was giving me a detailed list of all the things _I _should have been doing.

"… And make sure the guards have their armor polished! I hate having to see dirt scuffs everywhere." He finished with a low growl.

"Yes, your majesty. I'll have Comet Shield see to it that-"

"No! You will do this yourself. I can't have lazy advisors, can I?" He interrupted, giving me a glare that would have made weaker mares run for the hills.

"As you wish, your majesty." I replied smoothly, looking back down at the clipboard held aloft by my magic. A levitated quill danced across the paper, scrawling in a note, and I looked back up at the enraged prince. "Will that be all, my Prince?"

He smirked at the title and stepped closer to me, invading my personal space.

"Yes, Spectrum, that will be all." He said, his voice like ice down my spine. I bowed as low as I could and trotted away, aware of his eyes on my flank. At the end of the hallway I rounded a corner and shuddered. It wasn't that the prince wasn't handsome, he was, or would have been had his attitude improved. It was that every time he looked at me I felt like it wasn't the prince behind the dull orange eyes, but a monster. A cold-hearted, evil, thing.

"If only Prince Thunder Hoof were here." I whispered, to myself. Before Lightning Strike had taken the throne, his older brother Thunder Hoof had been in charge. Unlike his malevolent younger brother, Thunder Hoof was kind to and caring of his subjects. A few years into his reign, though, something had happened and he had disappeared, leaving his younger brother to rule.

Most had assumed Thunder Hoof had died in a battle, but there were others who believed he was still alive. And some, like me, had been searching all across Equestria for any sign of him, only to turn up dust.

"Spectrum." A voice hissed. I glanced up and looked around, but there was no sign of anypony. Confused, I started down the hall again.

"_Spectrum_." The voice said again, louder and closer this time, and definitely more urgent. It took me a moment before I realized the voice was in my head. Another moment, and I realized the voice was male and very familiar.

_Yes…? _I replied mentally. There was no answer. More confused than I was before, I tried to place the voice. I knew it was from someone close to me, but how? How were we connected? Who was it? I was less close to an answer when the voice spoke again, loudly, urgently, and slightly panicked.

"Spectrum, DUCK!" The voice shouted, and I hit the floor just a bolt of magic whizzed over my head. I watched as it hit a suit of armor and explode, scattering the burnt remains across the hallway. I didn't have time to look for my attacker because the voice was shouting at me again. "Run, Spectrum! And don't look back! Keep running!"

So I did.


	2. Chapter 2

The snowstorm was fierce outside the Crystal Empire, and I had to squint to see. The voice in my head had stopped talking to me once I got out of the city, but before I had it had one more thing to say: "Taking the train was a risk."

So I had ran, on hoof, out of the city, into the frozen wasteland, and right smack into a snowstorm. The snow was piled up to my knees and my breath was coming in puffs, freezing my lungs. But I had to keep moving. Somepony wanted me dead, and I couldn't let that happen. Not before I found Prince Thunder Hoof. I had to keep moving.

But I couldn't. The snow was too thick, the wind too strong, and I felt like my lungs had frozen solid. I tried, once more, to move farther, to get as far away as I could, but my hoof hit something and I fell face first into the snow. Tired and cold, I lay there, helpless, vulnerable, trying to stand up again but my hooves wouldn't move. Just as my vision was going blurry, I saw a figure coming towards me.

_This is it. _I thought, feeling a tear freeze on my cheek. _I'm going to die here. My prince, I've failed you._

As the figure drew closer, I felt a sudden sense of dread. What of my parents in Ponyville? They'll no nothing of what happened to me. My friends, they'll wonder why I haven't sent them a letter. No. I can't die like this. Not in the snow. Not where they'll never find the body. Not before I say goodbye.

Struggling to keep my ground and not fall over, I got to my hooves. The figure was drawing closer, but it was still just a shadow to me. A gust of wind knocked me back to the ground, and I realized my vision was going dark. More tears were freezing to my cheeks and as I slipped into darkness I heard his voice.

"You've done well, my friend, but you have a much longer journey ahead of you before we can be reunited for good. Now you must sleep."

_Sleep? Why? _This was my last coherent thought before sleep claimed me.

XXX

My dreams were filled with shadowy colts and hooded assassins, and most of the time I couldn't even make out what they were saying. It was mostly just garbled nonsense. When I finally pulled myself awake, I had a blazing headache and my lungs felt like they were going to burst. But the pain meant I was alive. Slowly opening my eyes, I surveyed my surroundings.

I was in a room with wood flooring, a fireplace, and a bed-which I was now occupying. The blankets were coarse and rough and there was no pillow, but at least I was warm. By the door, hanging on a coatrack, was a vaguely familiar hooded cape. I got up and walked over to it. Or tried to at least.

My steps were wobbly at best, and I nearly fell over twice, but I finally reached the cape. And saw the royal insignia. Dual lightning bolts crossed over each other. Prince Thunder Hoof's cutie mark.

Without thinking I rushed through the door, practically fell down the stairs, and stumbled into the next room-a small kitchen, by the looks of it. My heart was racing as I glanced quickly around the empty room, hoping for some other sign of the light brown colt.

"Your highness?" I called, starting to get worried. "Your highness!"

"Oh, you're awake." A voice said behind me. I whirled around to face the newcomer, getting dizzy in the process, and ended up on the floor looking up at a tan earth pony mare with a flaming red mane and light grey eyes. She was smiling down at me. "I was beginning to wonder. Are you hungry?"

Startled, I could only nod. The mare walked around me and started rummaging around the kitchen.

"When I was told somepony was going to be staying here, I didn't think for a moment that it would be Ink Spire's daughter. And to think, you've got such a handsome young colt looking after you, as well."

"You know my parents?" I asked, standing up again. Then I realized, "Young colt? You mean he was here? Where is he now? Did you see him leave? I have to find him."

"Slow down there, Sugar cube." She looked at with the kind of look my father would have given me. "One question at a time. Yes, yes, yes, I don't know, no, and absolutely not. You're in no condition to go traipsing across Equestria. You nearly froze to death. You were asleep for three whole days. And that young colt never left your side, wouldn't even eat, until you woke up."

"What?" It came out more of a gasp, then an actually word. Prince Thunder Hoof had been by my side for three days, wouldn't eat, probably never slept, and then he had just left. "He didn't even say goodbye."

_But he had said something. _I thought. _I remember his voice. What did he say?_

"I'm sure he was just in a hurry, Sweetie." The mare replied, sympathetically. But I wasn't listening anymore. My mind was back in that frozen wasteland, thinking of the voice I had heard. Something about a journey. A long one, too. But I'd need help. And there was only one place I was going to find ponies willing to help.

"Is there a train station nearby?"


End file.
